Posts Tagged ‘Craft’

After all my quilting leading up to the holidays, our older sister asked if I could help brainstorm and make a fun gift for her friend’s one year old, Wilder. With a little thinking and researching, we decided an apron would be both cute and practical for this little dude. He’d be able to wear it while painting, cooking, or simply as a new accessory!

Fat Quarter Options

We picked two fat quarters and an accent binding (to use for ties). And then I had to figure out how big – or small rather – a 1-year-old is! I measured, sketched it, cut it and started to sew! In about 10 minutes flat, an apron was made! I have to say – it’s pretty darn cute too. I might be making these for everyone’s kids soon. : )

Hey Everyone. Sorry I’ve been MIA for quite some time. Lots going on, but I thought I’d take some time and update you on a few projects and meals I’ve tackled lately.

Our oldest sister – Melissa – had her first child a few months back. The sweetest baby boy – Kemett. In true fashion, I waited til he was already entering the world to start and finish his quilt. BUT – it turned out adorable.

In progress

I used a charm pack and backed it with a soft flannel which wrapped around the sides to bind. To add some textures (and hide a couple flaws), I added felt squares scattered across the front. Enjoy the pictures!

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I love wreaths. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting my house, you’d know I have a wreath on ALMOST every door (inside and outside). And we have a lot of doors. 🙂 I can’t help but make wreaths. They bring me joy like nothing else does. As I sit down to write this, I worked on three wreaths today. How exciting is that? The wreath I’m going to share with you today is my new Yarn Wreath! It was time consuming, but so easy. Check it out.

Directions:
1. Wrap foam wreath form with scrap fabric. I tore my white burlap into 2-3 inch strips and wrapped the wreath until it was fully covered. My reason for this step is to cover the green foam of the wreath. It makes the yarn not have to be PERFECT. Choose a color fabric that matches your yarn so they blend together.

Fabric wrapped wreath

2. Find a starting point. Attach your yarn to the wreath form, either with a pin or glue. Wrap your yarn until the entire wreath is covered. This could take hours, but be patient. You’ll be happy with the outcome.

As you can see by my recent posts, I’ve been crafting up a storm. Particularly wreaths. I’ve had these wreath forms laying around my house and been waiting to find time to do something spectacular with them. Well, here it goes. I found inspiration from non other than pinterest for this one.

Directions:1. Wrap your wreath form in yarn or fabric or ribbon to create a background or base for your pumpkins.

2. Cut my fabric into random sized rectangles to create different size pumpkins. I sewed down the middle (horizontally) of each rectangle to create a gathering stitch to give the pumpkins shape. Then sewing right sides together, stitch up the two vertical sides of your pumpkins.

3. Flip the pocket right side out. Pull the gathering stitch to create the bottom gather, and stuff your pumpkins with batting.

4. Hand stitch the top of each pumpkin. I gathered each top together and used embroidery thread to make a tight gathered top.

5. Hot glue your corks or sticks to create a top for each pumpkin. I had broken corks I found worked best to vary in size depending on the pumpkin size.

6. Arrange finished pumpkins on wreath. I used a foam wreath and straight pins to attach. You could hot glue the pumpkins to the wreath for a more permanent wreath. I added the yellow bow to give it some dimension and spice.

I bet you’re excited to see this craft doesn’t involve a wreath, aren’t you? I decided to make a garland, but not just any garland. I’ve been saving this stash of unused coffee filters for a while now and finally decided to make something with it. I found this really easy to make garland online and decided to run with it. Check out the process below.

1. Divide your coffee filters into stacks. I made 12 stacks because I was going to try to make 12 different color dyes.

Coffee Filters

2. Add a small amount of water and food coloring to cups. The less water, the higher concentrated color. I used gel food coloring, but you can use regular food coloring as well. I found they all faded to a lighter color once dried in the sun, so take that into account. (Also, you may want to wear gloves. I squeezed the excess water off and ended up with lovely greenish-blue hands. Nothing a little baking soda couldn’t remove, but if you can prevent it, I say go for it!)

Dying Coffee Filters

3. After dying each pile, I attached them to the drying rack in the sun. I left them in piles of about 10 until they got closer to dry. Once I had a few dry, I’d remove them or try to separate the filters to allow them to dry more evenly. The colors look very vibrant here, but you’ll see they faded after drying.

Dying Coffee Filters

4. Once dried, randomly mix the coffee filters to create the effect you want in your garland. I chose to make piles of between 7 and 10 coffee filters. This allowed me to have a longer garland. Once I had each pile, I folded them in half to keep them together, but give me guidance for the next step.

Dyed Coffee Filters

5. Choose a thread color you’re happy with and stitch through each pile of coffee filters. Leave some extra thread between each set of filters to allow the garland to sage and sway as you drape it.

Stitching coffee filters

6. Once the filters are attached, you will cut them and fluff them to create your finished product.

When we were children, my mom used to sing “You are my sunshine” to us. It has always held a very special place in my heart, as well as my sisters’ hearts. I knew when I wanted to make my new baby nephew a sign, and knew it should reflect mom’s love.

So here’s the sign I made:

You are my sunshine Sign

It’s a fence post and acrylic paint. A little jigsaw action. And Voila! I’m in love. I want to paint 100 of them and share the sunshine! What do you think? 🙂

How To:
1. I started with wide burlap ribbon and wrapped the straw wreath till it was completely covered. You need to work with the burlap a little to prevent weird folds or wrinkles. I used straight pins to hold it in place rather than hot glue.

2. Using the wide chevron burlap ribbon, I made a very simple bow and secured it in the middle with wire. I secured it to the wreath also using straight pins.

3. I used two-tone twine to create a clothes line across the top of the wreath. I simply wrapped the twine around one side of the wreath, tied a bow, and stretched it across and repeated the bow on the other side.

4. To create the onesies, I free-handed a onesie on a piece of cardboard and then using scissors, cut onesies out of the yellow polka-dot fabric. I used embroidery thread and a thick needle to create the black stitching around the edges. Once almost around the onesie with stitches, stuff batting into the onesie to create a stuffed look. Finish stitching the edge and tie off inside.

5. Using tiny clothes pins, attach each onesie to the twine to create the clothesline look.